Chapter 6: Foolish Andrea
From inside the iron door came several low arguing sounds, along with some low scuffling noises.
After a few dull minutes, the iron door opened from inside.
Andrea pushed open the iron door, her face openly displaying discontent.
This woman had so little composure—was she really a lawyer?
Caesar smiled as he looked at Andrea's sullen face, thinking to himself.
"Hello!" Caesar extended his hand first in a friendly gesture.
Andrea glanced coldly at Caesar a few times, then grabbed Glenn and pulled him away from Jimmy's control.
Jimmy's hand twitched. His eyes held a questioning look as he glanced at Caesar.
Caesar shook his head slightly.
Capturing Glenn had just been to provide an opportunity to enter the camp. They couldn't really use this method to forcibly pull everyone into the ranch.
Helping in times of need was far more useful than adding flowers to brocade. Waiting for the camp to suffer a walker attack and morale to plummet—that would be the best opportunity to recruit people.
Glenn was protected behind the group like a little chick.
The black woman Jacqui and Andrea were obviously overflowing with maternal instinct, the anger in their eyes almost spilling out.
The two sides stood facing each other. The atmosphere gradually grew tense.
Andrea reached her hand toward her waist, where a silver handgun was hidden.
This movement clearly triggered everyone's reaction.
A cold flash passed through Rip's eyes. His whole body tensed, prepared to subdue Andrea in the next second.
Morales in the back noticed Andrea's movement and cursed silently.
Fuck, this stupid woman.
He stepped forward two paces, blocking Andrea, and glared at her sternly twice, signaling her not to act rashly.
Morales wore a smile on his face as he looked at Caesar. "Come in. Standing here will attract walkers."
Caesar nodded. "Let's go."
Caesar strode into the building, passing by Andrea and the others. Behind him, Jimmy, Rip, and Rick followed closely.
After they entered the hall, Morales closed the back door. His anger could no longer be hidden.
He grabbed Andrea's collar and pressed his gun to her forehead.
"Stupid woman, are you trying to get us all killed?"
"Those people are all carrying guns. Didn't you see? If you angered them, we'd all die here. If you want to die, that's fine, but I just want to get back to my family."
"If you dare do something this stupid again, I'll shoot you."
Morales was very agitated. The hand gripping the gun kept shaking, as if it might go off any second.
Andrea instantly calmed down in fright, opening her mouth but unable to speak.
The three people nearby immediately stepped forward to break it up.
"Morales, calm down. Be careful of accidental discharge." T-Dog hugged Morales from behind, pulling him back while speaking in soft tones.
Jacqui looked at Morales hopefully, her hand reaching for his arm, wanting to take the gun. Glenn anxiously scratched his head and ears, not knowing what to do.
Morales looked at Jacqui and T-Dog, glared at Andrea twice, and finally released his grip.
He strode toward the hall.
Andrea, left in place, gasped for breath, her hand constantly rubbing her neck where a large red mark had formed.
Jacqui quietly consoled her.
But Andrea didn't appreciate it. Humiliated and angry, she pushed Jacqui away and looked at Morales's retreating back with a red face. "You think you're any better? You coward."
The group's commotion wasn't small. Caesar and the others in the hall were crystal clear about it all.
Caesar didn't comment. He stood at the department store's front entrance.
Looking at the walkers outside the glass doors, these walkers' skin showed a purple-blue color. Their skin looked elastic, and their movements were relatively agile.
Caesar nodded secretly. City walkers were stronger than country walkers—more nimble hands and feet, higher intelligence. He didn't know if it was because city people ate more or they'd only recently turned.
"Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Morales."
Morales had a full beard, wore a tank top and jacket—Latino. He smiled and extended his hand, showing no sign of what had just happened.
Caesar reached out and shook hands with him.
The apocalypse hadn't lasted a year yet. Peacetime etiquette could better close the distance between people.
"Just call me Caesar. This is Jimmy, Rip, and this one here is Rick."
Caesar briefly introduced them, then immediately pulled Rick over.
"Morales, this Rick is closely connected to your camp."
"Huh?" Morales was stunned and looked at Rick carefully.
County police uniform, wearing a police hat, face clean and confused, looking like he hadn't adapted to the apocalypse yet.
Rick grabbed Morales. "Is my wife Lori at your camp?"
"Lori?"
Morales's eyes narrowed. He knew Lori's husband was a county sheriff, but wasn't he already dead?
He couldn't figure it out but still nodded and smiled in response.
Rick was very anxious about his wife and child's situation, grabbing Morales and asking questions nonstop.
Just then, Andrea and the others returned to the hall.
Andrea was much more subdued, hiding behind the group, lacking her earlier aggressive posture.
Morales grabbed onto this like a lifeline, hurriedly pushing Rick away and introducing his companions.
"This is T-Dog, Jacqui, and Andrea and Glenn."
Then Morales began explaining their group's situation.
"We're out of supplies. We wanted to move quietly through the city and grab some food and necessities."
"But now the walkers outside are rioting and have us trapped. We need to leave the department store immediately."
"If you still want to get supplies, you need to hurry. Otherwise the walkers will get in soon."
After he spoke, the walkers outside seemed to hear him. They picked up stones from the ground and frantically smashed against the glass door.
The department store's glass door quality was pretty good. After being hit by stones many times, cracks finally began forming.
The sound of shattering glass made Morales and the others' hearts skip a beat.
Caesar nodded. "The situation is indeed urgent. If you want to leave, you should go quickly."
Morales's expression froze. He'd originally wanted to use Caesar and his group's departure as an opportunity to leave together.
With his companions' abilities, they probably couldn't escape.
That group of people at camp would never come to rescue them.
Especially Shane—that selfish man would never come save them.
Thinking this, Morales smiled bitterly. "Caesar, honestly, we're trapped."
"There are too many walkers. We really can't escape, and we also want these supplies."
Morales frankly admitted his group's lack of ability and experience. They hadn't scouted the situation properly beforehand.
They'd just taken advantage of a gap in the walker horde to enter this area.
By the time they'd collected supplies and wanted to leave, that gap had already been filled by the walker horde.
"So I want to ask you to take us out of here."
"When the time comes, the supplies we've collected—we can give... half to you."
Morales could see that Caesar's group was clearly more capable and experienced, and probably had a way to leave.
The corner of Caesar's mouth lifted. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Morales. We also didn't expect the situation here to be like this, or we wouldn't have come to this department store either."
Who agrees immediately when someone asks for help? Agreeing right away would indicate the task wasn't difficult, wouldn't it?
Appropriate deflection yields better profit.